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Sabres spoil Stamkos' return for Lightning

Tampa Bay's new captain and crew can't solve Enroth

Associated Press
| on March 6, 2014

Photo: Chris O'Meara

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Buffalo Sabres goalie Jhonas Enroth (1), of Sweden, makes a save on a shot by Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Ryan Callahan (24) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 6, 2014, in Tampa, Fla. Defending for Buffalo is defenseman Henrik Tallinder (20), of Sweden. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara) ORG XMIT: TPA115 less

Buffalo Sabres goalie Jhonas Enroth (1), of Sweden, makes a save on a shot by Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Ryan Callahan (24) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 6, 2014, in Tampa, ... more

Photo: Chris O'Meara

Sabres spoil Stamkos' return for Lightning

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Tampa, Fla.

Jhonas Enroth made 43 saves to spoil the return of Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Lightning 3-1 on Thursday night.

Stamkos had been sidelined since breaking his right shin Nov. 11 at Boston, causing him to miss 45 games. The center received a partial standing ovation during pregame introductions, when it was announced that he is the new team captain.

Tyler Myers, Marcus Foligno and Cody Hodgson scored for the Sabres. Enroth stopped a combined seven shots by Stamkos (three) and Callahan (four) through two periods.

Tyler Johnson ended Enroth's shutout bid with a short-handed goal at 17:31 of the third.

Bruins 3, Capitals 0: Tuukka Rask got the first win of his career against Washington, Gregory Campbell and Loui Eriksson scored second-period goals and Boston blanked the Capitals. Rask's sixth shutout of the season and 22nd of his career came just five days after the Capitals beat him 4-2, also in Boston. WCapitals goalie Braden Holtby suffered his first loss against the Bruins after winning the first four matchups of his career. Boston finished the scoring on Brad Marchand's empty-net goal with 1:34 left.

Oilers 3, Islanders 2 (OT): Sam Gagner scored at 2:29 of the extra session. Franz Nielsen scored shorthanded and Anders Lee scored later in the first period to give the Islanders a 2-0 lead. Ryan Smyth and Philip Larsen scored for Edmonton in the third period, the latter with 3:07 left in regulation.

Kings 3, Jets 1: Mike Richards scored the winner on a Winnipeg giveaway to lift Los Angeles to its sixth straight victory. Brown scored Los Angeles' first goal and Alec Martinez added a third-period power-play goal. Goalie Jonathan Quick made 17 saves for the Kings. Olli Jokinen had his 15th goal of the season for Winnipeg and Ondrej Pavelec stopped 38 shots.

Blues 2, Predators 1: Ian Cole had a goal and an assist to lead St. Louis to its third straight win. Magnus Paajarvi had the other goal for the Blues, who have won all four of their games against Nashville this season. Ryan Miller stopped 21 shots to win his third game in as many starts since being acquired from the Buffalo Sabres on Friday. Nick Spaling scored for the Predators, losers of six of seven.

Blackhawks 6, Blue Jackets 1: Andrew Shaw and Jonathan Toews had two goals apiece for Chicago. Brandon Bollig and Bryan Bickell also scored for the Blackhawks. Corey Crawford made 22 saves for his 10th consecutive victory against Columbus. Ryan Johansen scored his 25th goal for the Blue Jackets, who had won three in a row. Sergei Bobrovsky made 14 stops before he was pulled during the Blackhawks' three-goal second period.

Avalanche 3, Red Wings 2 (OT): Andre Benoit scored at 4:34 of the extra session. Colorado had tied the game at 2 on P.A. Parenteau's goal at 5:30 of the third period. Niklas Kronwall and Tomas Jurco scored for Detroit, and Matt Duchene scored Colorado's first goal. Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 35 saves for the Avalanche, who have won four straight.

Coyotes 5, Canadiens 2: Radim Vrbata scored two goals and Phoenix bounced back from a shaky second period to beat Montreal, the Coyotes' first win over the Canadiens since 1998.

Note: The Dallas Stars are set to retire Mike Modano's No. 9, which will be lifted to the rafters before the Stars' game Saturday night against Minnesota, There are 53 names on the list for the pregame festivities, many of them former teammates who beat Buffalo for the franchise's only Stanley Cup in 1999 and lost in the finals a year later to New Jersey. Modano is the highest-scoring American-born player in NHL history, a U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer and two-time Olympian. He was born in Livonia, Mich.